Method of manufacturing meat cure



April 8, 1930. E. H. WRIGHT 1,753,358

METHOD oF MANUFACTURING MEAT CURE FiledNov. 22, 1927 ERA/55r- H h/R/G HT,

Ma/5MM A TTORNEYj .Patented Apr. 8, 1930 l Maaate lMyraNr ermee ERNESTn. WRIGHT, or KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI METHOD Fv MANUFAGEURING MEAT CUBEApplication mea november 22, 1927. Iserial N. 235,022.

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing meat curingmaterials, and to the product resulting therefrom.` For many years, ithas been recognized that meats cured E by the smoke of certain'of thehard woods,

such as hickory for example, have a. very delightful flavor, and meatscured by smoking in the manner indicated, havel become a delicacy, andcommand a very high price. I-Iow- .10 ever, the method of curing meatsby hanging them up in ,a smoke house and exposing them to wood smokeover a considerable period of time., is ySo slow and, consequently, soexpensive that ways have been eagerly sought for l accomplishingsubstantially the same result in a more economical way. Having, upon oneoccasion, observed a drip from a stove.` pipe, burning hard wood, Iconceived they i eaof condensing the gases driven od from hard wood andof utilizing. the resultant the salt is caused to carry a great dealmoreI of the condensate in proportion'to the bulk of the salt than isthe ease with known productsrof this character. ABy my -improved methodI am able to cause the salt to take up a very great deal more of thecondensate than o it has been possible to cause the Salt totake up bymethods heretofore employed.

Furthermore, by myimprov'ed method I free the condensate of certainobjectionable and even injurious substances, particularly g5 woodalcohol,.and I so treat the condensate as l to dehydrate it beforebringing it into union with the salt. v. v

' The .ligure shown ,in the accompanying drawing diagrammaticallyillustrates my method'.

\ In carrying out the method of the present invention I proceed asfollows:

A suitable hard wood, such as hickory for example, is charged into therevolving-retort f 5 of a still, such Aas those commonly employed 55 forthe destructive distillation of wood. At the beginning of the run, whichis'usually in the morning, the. temperature is maintained at from 100 to160 F. At these tempera` tures a very substantial part of the gases 6owhich contain wood alcohol, are driven 0E. These gases are permitted toescape from the system through a pipe 6, leading to a barrel f 7, thispipe being known as theretort drip. During the time that these lightervapors are being driven ofi', a valve 8, which controls thecommunication ofthe interior of the retort with the condenser 9 ofthestill, is kept closed, and thereaftersaid valve is opened and the vaporsdriven oi from the wood are per- 70 mitted to pass into the coils of thecondenser, which are kept cooled in any suitable. and v conventionalway, such as by running water over them. The temperature ofthe retort israised as the run progresses, being gradually. increased through the dayyto a maximum of about 900 F. 1 This slow increase `in temperatureresults in driving 0E successively heavi- -er fractions and all 4thefractions which pass through the condenser, and which are con-Y .80densed therein are delivered to a suitable container 10; A'. vent11,'atl the top of the condenser permits the escape of certainuncondensible and undesirable vapors, such as 'carbon dioxide and carbonmonoxide.- It has 85 been found that the .material discharge through theretort drip 6, at the beginning4 of the` run, consists of wood alcohol,light oils, A and some pyroligneous acid, and that of this materialsubstantially 18% is xwood alcohol. 90 Thus it will be seen that a verysub# stantial proportion of this objectionable agent is gotten rid of bythe. simple expedi- .ent of discharging those fractionsirst released atrelatively low temperatures completely from the system, beforepermitting any of the vapors to pass into the condenser -and beforepermitting any of the condensatel t'o pass to the container 10.

While, for purposes of explanation, have 1.9@

illustrated all of the apparatus as being so connected as to carry outthe process in a continuous manner, it is to be understood that this isnot essential, but that the material delivered to the container 10 maybe led ditainer 10 to a conventional type of vacuum still 12, for thepurpose of dehydrating the same. The result of dehydrating is to veryconsiderably increase the degree of concentration of the condensate.While the degree of concentration may be varied within wide ranges, Ihave, by dehydration, converted a quantity of the material having aspecific gravity of-1.013 to a very much heavier con- "centrate ofanhydrous residue comprising 47 .75% ofthe original quantity. The linalheavy concentrate is brought into intimate admixture with the crystalsof common salt, of a degree of fineness approximating that of tablesalt, by spraying this material while in a heated condition upon thesalt crystals at a time when theyare in astate of suspension andagitation. This is accomplished by conductingjthe heated condensate fromthe vacuum still 12, through a suitable tube 13, to the container 14 ofa conventional'type of spray gun, such as those commonly employed in thearts for the application of paint, varnishes and the like. Compressedair delivered from a compressed air container 15, through a tube 16, isdelivered to the spray gun after being passed through a heater 17, whichpreheats the air. It is, of course, apparent that a condensate of thecharacter described would become more or less thick and viscous whencold. By preheating the air and by using the condensate in a heatedcondition, and by delivering thewhole forcibly through a spray gun, thecondensate is delivered in an atomized, relatively thin, and heatedstate, to the salt. The salt, in turn, is heated, being delivereddirectly from the vacuum pans, in

which it is dried, to the hopper18 and revolving drum 19 of amixer. Thismay be a common type of mixer, such as is used for mixing concrete, andcomprising a revolving drum having internal baiiles, by which thematerial charged therein is continually lifted. and turned over anddropped, the result being to maintain a continuous. shower of salt inthe path of discharge of the spray gun.

The ,discharge of the condensate bythe spray gun is with suiiicientforce to bring a out an impact of the condensate upon the salt crystals.Salt crystals are relatively hard and dense, and do` not readily take upliquid smoke, particularly when thehydr'ous content has been removedtherefrom. By the method hereindescribed, of discharging the condensateupon the crystals, under pressure, the salt is caused to take `up a verygreat deal more of the liquid than they would take up if they weremerely exposed to contact with the liquid.

I iind a pressure of 25 pounds, at the gun, to operate satisfactorily,but this may be varied and still give satisfactory results.

Further, the application of the condensate to the salt is not restrictedto a single passage of the salt in front of the spray gun, but, upon thecontrary, the showering down of the salt vand the discharge of thecondensate thereon is continued until all of the salt crystals areheavily coated with the condensate.

By this method I am able to produce a proda uct of very great strength,as far as the smoke flavor is concerned, and this, of course, is what isprimarily desired.

I find it of advantage to add 5% of brown sugar, preferably of the gradeknown in the trade as C or No. 7. and saltpeter and black and red pepperto the final product' as marketed. This produces a complete smoke andsugar cure which renders it possible to give to meats the desired smokeflavor, while, at the same time, all of the labor incident to o rdinarysmoke house practice is avoided.

The present application is directed to the processA hereindescribed,including the impact of the condensate upon the salt, and to theresulting product, whlch includes the salt as a carrier.

In my co-pending application No. 238 995 led on the 9th day of December1927, I aniV susf article of commerce to be applied to the meats in itsliquid form, as with a brush. l

While I find the salt to be a convenient carrier I contemplate theapplication of thecondensate to saltpeter, or any other granular orcrystalline carrier which may be found suitable for the pur: ose.

Having describe my invention, what I claim is:

1. The herein described method of manufacturing a meat cure whichconsists of impacting the concentrateV resulting from the distillationof wood upon salt crystals.

2. The herein described method of manufacturing a meat cure product,which yconsists of atomizing the condensate resulting from thedistillation of wood and forcibly discharging the same upon saltcrystals.

3. The'herein described method of manufacturing a meat cure product,which consists Vof atomizing the condensate resultin the distillation of-wood and forcib y disfrom' charging the same upon salt crystals, and infacturinga meat cure product, which consists of atomizing the condensateresulting from the distillation of' wood and forcibly discharging thesame upon salt crystals, at ele- Vated temperature. i

5. The herein described method of manuacturing a meat cure product,which consists of atomizing the condensate resulting from thedistillation of wood and forcibly discharging the same upon saltcrystals, while agitating the salt.

6. The herein described method of manufacturing a meat cure product,which consists of atomizing the condensate resulting from thedistillation of wood and lforcibly discharging the same upon saltcrystals, While agitating the salt in suspension.

7. The herein described method of coating salt crystals with theconcentrate resulting from the distillation of hard wood, which consistsof maintaining the salt in a substantially continuous shower anddischarging the concentrate ina heated condition and under the influenceof heated air forcibly into contact with the salt crystals.

In'testimony whereof l ax my signature.

ERNEST H. WRIGHT.

